Texas A&M at Qatar students Natalie Hamad, Bader Al-Madhadi and Mhd Humam Al Kassar on 5 Nov. attended the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) national student conference held in Nashville, Tenn.

Student engineers from more than 100 schools were in attendance, and Texas A&M at Qatar had the only student chapter from outside the United States. During the conference, students participated in a number of events including workshops, a graduate school fair and a poster competition. The highlight of the conference was the chem–e car competition in which cars, powered by a chemical reaction, raced to the finish. For information contact Dr. Ghada Salama: ghada.salma@qatar.tamu.edu.

Dr. Othmane Bouhali, director of research computing, announced this week that proposals are being accepted for the Visualization Development Competition 2010.

The competition is designed to raise awareness about the University’s Immersive Visualization Facility by encouraging innovative uses of the IVF. This year, the competition has been extended to all of Education City, Qatar University and local industry. Interested parties must submit a completed submission form to be returned no later than 10 Dec. and can attend an introductory session about the competition on 18 Nov. The session will begin at 9 a.m. in lecture hall 238 of the Texas A&M Engineering Building. For information contact Dr. Othmane Bouhali: othmane.bouhali@qatar.tamu.edu.

The Aggie women’s soccer team this week will face off against the Bears of Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar. The game is scheduled for 21 Nov. at 2:45 p.m. The women’s team will play at 7:45 p.m. against the Hoyas of Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Qatar. Both matches are closed games and will be played at the wood floor gym of the recreation center. For information contact Rachel White: rachel.white@qatar.tamu.edu.

The Aggie men’s basketball team dominated the Texas A&M at Qatar invitational basketball tournament, claiming the title of champions for the second year. After winning the first game against the Tartans of Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar with a score of 51-24, the Aggies faced the Bears of Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar. Led in scoring by Wajih Idriss and Nathan Miller, the Aggies claimed victory with a score of 48-34. The Aggie men’s record now stands at two wins and zero losses to start the season. The team has won 19 games in a row since November 2008. For information contact Michael Collins: michael.collins@qatar.tamu.edu.

Freshman engineering students on 4 Nov. and 9 Nov. participated in the Engineering 111 roborunner competition.

Student teams built robots using a lego kit, complete with processor and sensors, to race on a track, recognize lines and pick up a bottle before returning to the start. The four fastest teams from the initial round progressed to the final round. “The groups enthralled the crowd with some really close races and nailbiting finals,” said Dr. Beena Ahmed, lecturer of electrical engineering. “The competition was a great success, with the groups proving that a great deal of fun can be achieved with a lot hard work, teamwork, engineering and programming.” Winners of the 4 Nov. competition were Mohammed Sheriff and Aravindh Rajan and winners of the 9 Nov. competition were Yousef Al-Hoori, Noora Al-Saadi and Aysha Alkhaja. For information contact Dr. Beena Ahmed: beena.ahmed@qatar.tamu.edu.

The Office of Admissions and Records and the Office of Marketing and Communications this week launched a new Web site, www.ExploreTAMUQ.com, for the admissions recruitment season.

The goal was to create a site that would attract potential students and offer them all the information they needed as they went through the admission application process. “This is a remarkable mini marketing Web site for Texas A&M at Qatar,” said Dr. Robert Hensley, director of the Office of Admissions and Records. “This Web site will be invaluable for those prospective students who just want the nuts and bolts for applying for admission to Aggieland in Doha.” The intention is to provide a quick access Web site with the essential information for learning more about Texas A&M at Qatar and becoming an Aggie engineer. For information contact Dr. Robert Hensley: robert.hensley@qatar.tamu.edu.

More than 150 runners and volunteers on participated in the “Run for the Ring” on 7 Nov. to celebrate the tradition of the Aggie ring.

Students who participated were eligible for their names to be placed in a drawing for Aggie rings and a $400 credit to be used toward the purchase of an Aggie ring. Texas A&M at Qatar students Sahar Elrefai and Abdallah Marmar won Aggie rings donated by The Association of Former Students and Department of Student Affairs, and Mahmoud Kassem won the $400 ring credit. Other first place winners were divided by male and female into five categories:

1. Texas A&M at Qatar students
2. Indoor female-only run
3. 2 and under
4. 60 and older
5. theDoha community

Winners in the Texas A&M at Qatar category were Luke Davis, male, and Rana Nicola, female. Winner of the indoor female-only run was Muneera Al-Qahtani. Winners of the 12-and-under category were Mustafa Elkurdy, male, and Andie Condie, female. Winners of the 60 and older category were Paul Zwintscher, male, and Cathy Holste, female. Winners of the Doha community category were Ben Regan, male, and Darbi Roberts, female. For information contact Dr. Amanda Samson: amanda.samson@qatar.tamu.edu.

The Aggie men’s soccer team this week will face off against the Bears of Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar. The game is scheduled for 12 Nov. at 6 p.m. On Saturday, the men’s team will face-off against the Tartans of Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar. Both games will be played at the soccer pitch across from the recreation center. For information contact Jeffrey Sulik: jeffrey.sulik@qatar.tamu.edu.

Coming off a perfect 17-0 season, the Aggie men’s basketball team this week will participate in the 2nd annual Texas A&M at Qatar invitational tournament. On Thursday at 6:30 p.m., the College of the North Atlantic-Qatar will face off against Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar in game one. The Aggie men’s team will follow at 8:15 with game two against Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar. On Saturday, the consolation game begins at 12 p.m. with the championship game beginning at 1:45 p.m. All games will be played in Qatar Academy gym. For information contact Michael Collins: michael.collins@qatar.tamu.edu.

The Student Engineers’ Council will host the inaugural Engineering Week in Qatar beginning 7 Nov. A tradition from main campus, Engineering Week is designed to promote awareness about the importance of engineering.

The week begins with an inter-university cooking competition. Other E-Week activities include a Jeopardy tournament, bingo and an engineering projects fair. Engineering Week concludes with a tri-sport tournament featuring soccer, basketball and foosball. For information contact Dillan Raymond Roshan: d.raymondroshan@qatar.tamu.edu.